2023 Athlete Guide
Welcome to the 2022 Six Pillars Century Bike Ride. We are happy to host you in the City of Cambridge, and in Dorchester County.
Packet Pickup (this will be where you pick up your jersey too, if you ordered one)
Weather permitting, we will have a packet pickup on Friday, May 6th, 2022, from 5pm to 7pm, at Gerry Boyle Park at Great Marsh. The address for this park can be found by searching for 1 Somerset Avenue, Cambridge, MD 21613. This is also the official start and finish point for the ride. If you are able to go to FIND A PARTICIPANT on the website (www.6pillarscentury.org) or we will send everyone an email with their bib number, that will make the whole process a LOT faster!
On the morning of the ride, we will be at Gerry Boyle Park at Great Marsh, and ready to disperse packets, by 6am. Please understand that there is a process to the bags and we need to get them out and sorted, so please be sure to not ask until 6am. Sunrise is shortly after that, for all you early risers.
Ride Morning
RULES OF THE ROAD- 1) All riders must wear a helmet!!
2) All riders must follow all vehicle traffic laws (in MD, you ARE a vehicle)
3) When possible, stay to the shoulder
4) Have fun! But be aware! This is an open course with vehicle traffic.
PARKING On the morning of the ride, parking can be found on the local streets near Gerry Boyle Park. We have included a map on the website, under the PARKING tab.
Suggested Start Times
· Century (100 Mile) 7am
· 56 Mile 8 am
· 37 Mile 9 am
The official Century start time is 7am. We ask that the Century riders start earlier than all others because there is an 8 hour limit on the ride. This means that after 8 hours, the course will be swept and aid stations will be broken down, based on that time frame.
We have based all of our aid station times, based on the above listed times. If you happen to leave BEFORE your time (for some of you early risers), we cannot guarantee that the aid stations will be up and stocked for you.
STARTING THE DAY - We suggest that you bring full Water Bottles, Gatorade drink and some snacks. Everything that we will be having will be sealed at the aid stations. THERE ARE ON BOTTLE FILLS AT GERRY BOYLE PARK. Start with a full bike.
We would LOVE to see everyone come down to Gerry Boyle Park to start with us, but sometimes show-and-go rides start from wherever you are, and we understand that. Please ride down and see us, at some point, and let us know you are there, and that you are back. We will have drivers out on course, in case you need help, and will send out a SAG phone number later, in case you need help.
COURSES
We are going to limit paper maps from our side, so please, if you want a paper cue sheet, print out and bring a cue sheet with you from the RideWithGPS site. Links are in each course.
All of the courses are listed on RideWithGPS and have been linked on the website (www.6PillarsCentury.org) . All of the courses have ALSO been tape arrowed already with Yellow designating the 100 mile route, Orange designating the 56 mile ride and Pink designating the 37 ride.
As a course diverges from the others, there will be an arrow showing the diversion, and the route. So the left turn on to Key Wallace from Route 16 that ONLY the 37 mile riders take, has a 37 with the Left Turn arrow.
If you download the RideWithGPS app, we have verified that it is accurate, and will get you where you need to go. RideWithGPS will give you turn by turn instructions.
AID STATIONS
There are multiple aid stations on course, and each is designated on the RideWithGPS map. Each course will have a different number of aid stations on it, with the Century having the most (5, though you hit one of them twice) and the 37 mile only reaching 2 aid stations.
Each aid station, this year, will be a self serve aid station. Minimal volunteers will be on site to reduce any exposure to non-riders. At each aid station will be:
· Coolers of Water
· Coolers of Gatorade
· Prepacked snacks
o Crackers
o Granola
o Trail Mix
o Chips/Pretzels
Aide Station Mileage
Century Course - Aide 1 (26), Aide 2 (40), Aide 3 (50), Aide 4 (58), Aide 5 (73),
Aide 6 (82)
56 Mile Course - Aide 1 (15), Aide 2 (30), Aide 3 (47)
37 Mile Course - Aide 1 (15), Aide 2 (28)
There will also be minor first aid kits at the aid stations, as well as bike tire pumps, should you need to “top off”.
CENTURY RIDERS –Please follow the Yellow Course arrows. Please note that your first aide station is at Mile 25, so please prepare accordingly.
Please be kind and courteous to our volunteers.
After the ride
We are working with local merchants to secure food options for you at Gerry Boyle Park, at the conclusion of the event. We will have plenty of cold drinks on hand to relax and enjoy the beautiful park.
Depending on when you get done, there are LOTS of food options right in the downtown area, and many new ones have popped up since we last held the ride in 2019. Be sure to check them all out at https://downtowncambridge.org/
Click the icon below to download the attached PDF.